Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

If you had the opportunity to represent yourself in a painting, what would it look like? How might you express your values or identity in a work of art? Do you think those qualities might change as you grow older? 

Teaching Suggestion: This short answer question prepares the students to meet Jack, a character in the novel who expresses himself through his artwork and experiences an important creative maturation throughout the story. This also introduces them to the theme of The Need to Celebrate Identity, which recurs throughout.

• “How Artists Explore Identity” from the Museum of Modern Art examines three different works of art and how the artists expressed the identity of their subject. This resource also addresses The Inevitability of Change.

Short Activity  

What are the stars, planets, and constellations you could see in the night sky over your home tonight? Do some research to find out what you could see tonight and learn how they will change over the next days or weeks.

Teaching Suggestion: There are many sites and applications students can use to track the sky based on their location.